Genius
by HisuiGreen
Summary: Because Sasuke often wonders: Who is the real genius of the team? SasuSaku :friendship:
1. ProloguePreview

A/N: Some of you who read UB might be thinking... why the hell is she starting a new story? Well...

1) I don't want to forget the plot line, or how to say the plot line.

2) I want to test the waters in the SasuSaku friendship section.

3) I really need to write a light-hearted story or else I might sink deeper into a sort of depression. Please don't ask.

Keep in mind, this is a prologue, and really, more like a _preview_ than anything.

Note: I have decided to make Sakura, instead of being a half-year/year _older_ than the other two, a half-year/year _younger_. It's actually important to the story guys, not because I have an obsession with my characters being with older guys.

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><p>Genius <em>by <em>Sandi

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Preview:

They are fifteen.

Well, Sakura is fourteen, he reminds himself. He looks at the three of them, himself included.

Sakura is sitting on a stool in Ichiraku, her back straight and huge eyes forward as she picks out something to eat. She is the most indecisive of the three.

Naruto has already ordered, and while eating, is talking about something that, frankly, Sasuke cannot remember. He believes this is fine, since most of what comes out of the blond's mouth is not worth listening to, especially when said mouth is full of ramen.

He himself is eating, quietly of course. He likes to think himself the quiet one of the tree, though he knows this is untrue.

Sakura does not talk much either, though she is much more obliging than he is when it comes to conversing. He wonders if this is because she is still shy, but decides it isn't worth questioning.

Something catches his ear, just as Sakura receives her food. "Oi teme, did you hear?"

"Yamanaka says that you two are dating! Isn't that stupid? As if that could ever happen," Naruto drawls out in his usual annoying fashion.

Sasuke does not hesitate to support Naruto's opinion though, but someone beats him to it.

"We're not dating." Sakura says this quietly but with resolve. Her eyes are firm, and there is no trace of a blush on her cheeks.

For some reason, this irritates him. He has always known Sakura to blush profusely around him, so obviously, she must like him.

He ignores the fact that she has never confessed to him of her own accord. (He recalls that two years ago, Yamanaka "encouraged" her to confess.)

Instead he says, "She's right, dobe. There's no way that could happen."

He searches her face and finds nothing. No trace of hurt, nothing. She continues to eat in silence, with a muted look of pleasure on her heart-shaped face as she salvages the taste.

He knows he is irritated now because he is good at reading people. He has always been good at reading people. She cannot be an exception. Rather, she has never been an exception.

He ignores the fact that this time, she could be an exception.

* * *

><p>For the first time in a while, he overhears a conversation between Yamanaka and Sakura.<p>

"You don't like him?"

He hears nothing but a swish of hair.

"How is that even possible? Do you see how good-looking he is?"

He hears Sakura's soft voice say, "I just don't."

"But you blush around him. You must be in denial, Forehead." Yamanaka's voice is almost painfully loud, and he wonders how a quiet person like Sakura gets along with her.

There is a slight pause before Sakura answers. "I just like.." Her quiet voice drops to an even quieter whisper.

He is unable to perceive what she says after that, only catching the blonde's characteristically loud response.

"WHHHATTTT?" He winces; it is louder than usual.

As they continue to speak–––Sakura, in her hushed voice, and Yamanaka, in an extremely loud thing that should probably not count as a whisper––– he walks away.

* * *

><p>The next day he learns something new about his teammate.<p>

He asks her, after catching wind of this information and in a sudden bout of curiosity, "You like... dark eyes and hair."

It is a question, though he says it like a statement.

She understands, having been around him for three years of her fourteen.

"Yeah." She says this informally, but he doesn't mind.

He pushes the question further than he should.

"Like Lee?"

"No!" She denies it easily, but there is a large blush that spreads over her face before fading.

"Inuzuka?"

The same blush returns, and he decides it is pointless to pursue this further.

Instead, he hears himself chuckle and, after a while, her joining him. Her laugh is light, somewhat throaty, and not very lady-like at all, a stark contrast to her speaking voice.

He is relieved, irritated, and amused all at once.

* * *

><p>The actual story (chapter 1) will start when Sakura is 11, and Naruto and Sasuke are both 12.<p>

Well?

Yeah, Sakura might seem somewhat OOC, but when you read the beginning, it'll make more sense.

Why am I not starting at the beginning?

There are several reasons, but mainly because I thought this was funnier and less mundane. But then again, my humor could be lame.

- Sandi


	2. Beginnings

A/N: Why is this being updated more frequently than UB? I'm not sure why, but at the moment, this is easier to write.

This story, though I hinted that it would be more light-hearted, feels a little more vague. The reader has to do a little to fill in the gaps, but I think it's perfectly manageable. It will also have its dramatic parts because I don't want to ignore canon altogether. Friendship takes a while to develop anyway.

**NOTE: **I have filled in her past a bit. I don't remember the canon snapshots in Naruto picturing her as any younger than 8 or 9. But quite frankly, the past I created is a total fabrication. I will assure though, that it's not ridiculously dramatic (yet, I suppose), nor are there any murders, ludicrous deaths, mentions of family abuse, etc. It's actual quite simple.

This chapter in particular provides interesting explanations for the events that occur in canon...

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><p>Genius <em>by <em>Sandi

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Chapter 1: Hapless

She feels unlucky.

She even looks unlucky, her ridiculously long pink hair hanging downward somewhat, but mostly everywhere. Her face is downturned toward the ground, which, to her, is the friendliest thing around.

She is scared.

Her oversized green eyes have trouble looking up from the dirt. She doesn't mind.

Eye contact is frightening. It is a sign of courage to some, and congeniality to others. She has neither.

Today is the day of the genin exam.

It is a simple process for everyone else, she knows, but she feels very much displaced from the world. She is different from others, something that she has constantly been forced to acknowledge.

A freak, some dub her.

One tear builds and falls. One fist tightens. She doesn't bother convincing herself that she is not afraid, but instead focuses on her goal.

She will make genin.

She will be the first Haruno to become a shinobi of Konoha and make her family proud. Rather, she has no choice.

It is a necessity, not a dream.

* * *

><p>She sits down in her favorite seat, near the only window and toward the front. She is exactly thirty minutes early.<p>

In fact, she always comes thirty minutes early because she enjoys gazing through the window without anybody to see her. If she feels courageous, she will practice the occasional jutsu, but the extra thirty minutes are mostly to calm and further her mind.

Despite the fact that she is and always has been a morning person, she yawns. Almost immediately, she considers the action a bad omen, before thinking about it further. Her pale, full lips purse as she does this.

She decides that she yawned because she went to bed late last night after practicing with her father. Though she normally spends an hour and half training with Father, in honor of her test the next day, he decided to double the training.

It only takes a minute for her to consider the extra training a blessing, rather than a misfortune. Losing sleep is definitely better than screwing up on the genin test, she thinks.

She looks up at the single clock in the room.

Ten of her thirty minutes have passed, and not a single person has entered the room. This is normal.

However, she has nothing to do.

Normally, she would work in their books, but she finished the year's curriculum more than a month ago. Recently, she has been doing some of her father's numbers, but her father has declared that he will not let her help out in the new family business as a shinobi. _Your job as a shinobi is to bring our family honor here, in the Land of Fire,_ she recalls him saying.

Though she loves her father very much, right now she wishes that Father would understand that working numbers would not interfere with her studies.

Her fingers itch.

She wishes she had a weapon to practice with. More so, she wishes she had the courage to do so.

She is acutely aware that she is a coward. But though Father understands her ridiculous shyness, he refuses to teach her social skills. _Shinobi don't need social skills,_ is one of his favorite lines. She dislikes that he says it, but he avoids her ire by always adding, _You are a monster in battle_. These two lines have always gone hand in hand, she remembers.

Despite what her father believes, she has gained some social skills though. She can greet girls and some boys without blushing or stuttering. She can talk about the girlish things without feeling swept into an uncontrollable hurricane. She gets along with others well enough, without making new friends or enemies.

She has enough, she decides. But not enough to be wholly satisfied. She has acknowledged though, that she may never be satisfied.

Her family is a quiet one. It is just her and Father. Her mother passed away exactly three months before they moved to Konoha. The only thing she really remembers about the death is that it was a dark and rainy day.

Because of her circumstances, she understands she may never become completely socially adept.

She ponders over all this while looking outside the window, her eyes glazed over as she gazes into the clear sky.

The door slides open, and she feels Iruka-sensei, her teacher walk in. She wonders whether he ever bothers to mask his chakra presence. As he walks closer toward her, she recalls when she had relayed this question to her father.

Her father had assumed that she was extremely chakra sensitive and could sense chakra presences even when masked, and, in response, had only made her training more rigorous. _You have potential_, he had said excitedly in his thick accent.

For the first few weeks, she remembers, she had accepted her father's demands, practicing roughly three and half hours a day at age nine. Then, after seeing all the other young children playing in the streets, she had told her father that she could no longer "feel" her teacher. She had told Father this several times before he had relented, deciding that nine was a bit too early to have amplified chakra senses.

To this day, she refuses to tell him that she has been able to sense chakra presences all this time.

"Good-morning, Sakura-chan." Iruka-sensei greets her with a wide smile.

In return, she manages a small smile and a quiet "hello." This is their usual exchange.

She returns to gazing outside the window, though she is acutely aware that her sensei looks at her steadily for at least a minute before turning to his work.

The silence carries on until the other students come in, interrupted only by Iruka-sensei's shuffling of papers.

"Forehead!" She suddenly realizes that she can probably hear Yamanaka-san's voice from roughly a half-mile a way.

"Good morning Ino-san," she says with a genuine smile.

"Would you stop it with the -san Sakura?" The blonde has dropped her nickname in a bout a seriousness, she realizes.

"I'm trying." She says this also with a smile, because this has been their usual conversation for the last two years.

As usual, the blonde seems to accept this answer and continues on about some ridiculously girly thing that Sakura has probably never heard of. She smiles and listens anyway though, because this is a friend's effort to prevent Sakura's loneliness.

Despite this usual conversation, the blonde never sits next to her. It is not because Yamanaka-san is fake though; it is because Yamanaka-san is obsessed with Uchiha Sasuke-san.

As far as boys go, Sakura likes and admires his dark features, but doesn't see much else. She does not mention this to anyone. He is a good fighter though, and if she could manage to fight him without blushing too much, she would like to face him.

But since this will probably never happen, she is fine with simply absorbing his clunky, powerful fighting style from afar.

The boy in question walks in.

Various screams occur, and she attempts to block them out without using her hands. She is unsuccessful though, and her ears vibrate a little after absorbing the sheer amount of sound.

Even if she was successful, she realizes, she would not be able to do as she pleases. His chakra presence puts her at a great amount of unease. It is a giant lump of power, mixed with irritation and anger. She assumes some of it has to do with the Uchiha Massacre, an incident she isn't particularly familiar with, but also acknowledges that the screams must bother him as well.

However, today is different than usual.

He stops at her row, and almost immediately, her back stiffens. Then he sits down next to her.

She looks away, hoping that if she doesn't look at him, his chakra presence will somehow become more minute and she can breathe normally again.

She is suffocating.

"Relax," she hears him say in his usual elongated drawl, before realizing that he is referring to her. "I'm not interested in you." He mutters an "and never will be" under his breath, but she catches it easily. She blushes, because she is unsure of how to respond.

Thankfully, she doesn't have to, if the Uchiha's silence is any indication.

"Haruno," Iruka, calls her name.

"H-a-ai!" She says after standing abruptly. She knows she is a stuttering mess, but can do nothing about it. People laugh at her nervousness, some loud and some quiet.

She does not take solace in the fact that Hinata stutters too, because her battles are her battles, and no one else's predicaments will change hers.

As she waits for Iruka to finish the roll, she looks around shyly. These are the people she has known for the last three years, but she still feels uncomfortable them. Even Ino, the girl who dubbed her "her bestest friend" still scares her. But she supposes this is okay, since the blonde does have her better moments.

She accidently makes eye contact with her neighbor, Uchiha-san.

He glares at her, and she blushes and shrinks back from his gaze. The moment she feels that he is no longer looking at her, she exhales.

It will be a long morning, she decides.

* * *

><p>"Haruno-san."<p>

She has waited for exactly 28 minutes for her turn, and has decided that she will not stiffen or stutter. She will make Father proud.

"Hai," she says with resolve, her voice a little louder than usual. No one notices this little fact, and she is perfectly content with this.

"Do the transformation jutsu for me," Iruka-sensei says. She wonders for a moment whether he realizes that she is not doing the jutsu for not only him, but the entire class.

She nods anyway, a sharp, concise motion as taught by Father.

For a split-second, she feels as if she will falter, as if she will make a mistake. Immediately, images of possible disasters pop up within her mind.

However, she finds that she has no reason to fear. Her body knows the motions better than her mind does, and her hands immediately obey her sensei's commands. As she does this, she faces the board, so that only Iruka-sensei can really see what she is doing.

She becomes a grocer merchant that she saw this morning, much to her relief. Sometimes, when she is not conscious of what she is doing, she becomes the last person she has thought about. Becoming a Uchiha in front of everyone would have sealed her doom, she thinks. After a few long seconds, she releases the henge and awaits her next instruction.

"Create a bunshin," he says next, his smiling face unchanged as he scribbles down a multitude of notes, more than what she thinks he actually needs.

With her permission, her hands once again take the lead, and her hand signs are quick and concise. Another person that looks like her appears next to her, every feature an exact copy. It is almost too perfect, Sakura thinks, almost worried.

She does not enjoy showing off.

Iruka-sensei continues his questioning for another three minutes and thirty seconds, seemingly ignoring her quality of work. She smiles–––it should be okay this way.

After he releases her, she sits down.

She fights the urge to look out the window because she does not want to be accused of not paying attention. So instead, she mentally flips through the jutsus Father has taught her, though she knows most of them she will never be allowed to use in public.

Father calls these jutsus _forbidden_, yet he still teaches her. She likes to think it is because he still misses their old home and culture, both of which she only has faint memory of.

An hour and twenty-two minutes passes by without an interruption.

It is the Uchiha's turn.

She feels him stand up calmly, exuding confidence that may or not be a front, she thinks. There is a slight pause in the flow of his chakra, she observes.

Either way, he completes the test flawlessly. His movements are somewhat choppy and stilted and she thinks he uses too much chakra, but decides this is okay, because he has a lot of it. Also, his chakra output is roughly the same as everyone else's, something she realizes after he finishes.

A blond boy comes up. She recognizes the boy as Uzumaki Naruto. Like Uchiha-san, she is fuzzy on the details of his past, but his amount of chakra is tremendous. It is also not his, she realizes. The chakra around his stomach area is massive, but does not match his distinct chakra signature.

She thinks this is unfortunate, as he will never be able to use exact amounts of chakra that is not his.

As she predicts, his release of chakra is akin to the water rushing down a waterfall. It is incredibly loud and forceful, and she winces as the chakra residue pauses before dissipating into the air again.

Even more unfortunate is his attempt to make a bunshin of himself, and she has trouble looking directly at him. She feels his chakra energy droop and his loud steps as he walks back to his desk.

However, she knows he will get a second chance. Iruka-sensei is too nice to let Uzumaki-san fail, especially when the latter has so much potential.

Potential.

Though she uses the word somewhat liberally within her thoughts, she never says it herself. It never fails to cause her to lament that she does not hold as much potential as Father wishes her too. She knows that he is counting on her to bring pride to his family in particular. Her mother's family is a famous shinobi family within the area they used to live in, and they had never truly accepted her father.

She realizes that she may never live up to her middle name, Suruka, but this does not bother her much anymore.

She is in Konoha now.

* * *

><p>As she walks home, she feels a disturbance in the woods. She looks to her instincts to decide what to do, and walks into the midst of trees.<p>

She sees Uzumaki-san, and a man she does not know. The man has his intentions plastered all over his chakra signature though, so she has no need to know more.

She watches the entire series of events from behind a tree, her own chakra signature masked tightly. Iruka-sensei saves Uzumaki-san by taking a large shuriken to the back, something she finds admirable. She watches them cry together silently, and watches Iruka-sensei hug the blond and give him a certificate.

A certificate of genin advancement.

She cannot keep herself from smiling and sits down against the tree trunk as the pair leaves. The wood scratches her, but she does not mind. The slight pain is worth the view, she decides.

She likes the darkness of the woods, and finds the tall trees comforting. The sky grows darker as she lies there, tracing various signs in the dirt.

Father does not come back to the house until six-thirty, so she knows she has time.

Normally, she practices her jutsu in the woods, under the cover of trees and the coming dusk , but today she decides she has had enough practice. So instead she dances.

She likes dancing.

She likes the way it makes her feel on her feet, and she likes imagining that she is graceful. She never falls or falters while she dances, because her dancing comes from her heart.

Her heart never falters.

She has never known a time when she did not know what she wanted or needed, and though she is far from omniscient, she has the feeling that she will never know such a time.

Her dancing speeds up as she thinks, as if trying to accommodate for her quick mind. Her red dress flutters wildly as she twirls and leaps incessantly, breathing the wind that flies her way. She decides that half the fun of dancing is the wind it creates.

The wind has always been her friend, and whenever she is feeling lonely, it picks up, caressing her cheeks warmly. She smiles as she thinks of the wind, still dancing. It is a pleasant feeling.

She continues to dance until roughly six o' clock, then heads home. She has never been late before, and does not plan to ever be.

* * *

><p>"Shiro-chan!" Her father greets her with a wide smile. He is the only one she knows that never calls her by her given name, Sakura. Though Father says that he calls her Shiro because he likes the purity associated with the name, she feels that he has some other reason. Even so, she never questions him.<p>

When she responds, she feels her accent creep in and smiles. She likes the lilt to the syllables, despite that she is mercilessly teased by the other children for it.

He engulfs her in a hug, and she feels small within her arms. She likes this feeling.

"I see you passed the exam with flying colors!" The excitement is evident in his voice and she finds it contagious.

"Yeah," she says with a wide smile, and for once, Father does not correct her informality.

He releases her from his grasp and as he walks away from her, he says, "I have a present for you, Shiro-chan."

He returns with a box, which she recognizes as one of the packages he came back with when he visited their old village exactly six months ago. She has no idea what is inside it though, so she is still overcome with curiosity.

"Open it," he says encouragingly as she looks at the box.

She opens it gingerly, first setting aside the packing tape, then the various clips that the package service uses to organize their things. Then she opens the flaps, finding a single fan.

It is a beautiful, intricately decorated fan.

She gasps before thanking him profusely. Though she has never wanted a fan before, looking at this fan makes her very, very happy. She has no idea why.

She strokes it gently, absorbing the feel of the decorative silk. Her hand slides toward the end, and before she is aware of it, she accidently cuts herself. The ends are lengthy blades, sharpened to perfection.

"Ah, Shiro, be careful of the end," Father warns her.

She nurses the wound in her mouth before her father grabs her hand and heals it with a small healing jutsu.

"Don't suck," he tells her, his voice stern.

"Yes Father," she says, before adding, "Why a fan?"

"It is very popular back home," he says. He pauses for a moment before adding slowly, "It is also the weapon of choice of your mother's family."

Upon hearing him say the word "mother," she notices a small engraving which reads _Suruka Sakura. _The names sound funny together, she thinks, but she supposes she will become accustomed to it.

"I see," she says quietly.

"I also have one," her father says with a smile.

Sakura brightens immediately, her pale features glowing with more color. "Will you––"

"I will teach you," her father confirms with a smile.

The rest of her night is a happy affair, though her father will not yet allow her to wield the fan.

* * *

><p>The teams are posted.<p>

Because of Father's gift, she feels happier and more exuberant than usual. Yamanaka-san in particular notices this, and smirks at her. She is too light-hearted to mind, or to even interpret the smirk.

Fifteen minutes pass before she realizes what Yamanaka-san had meant.

She is staring at the team sheet.

Under _Team 7_, there is a list of three names. Hers is one of them.

_Haruno Sakura_

_Uchiha Sasuke_

_Uzumaki Naruto_

She does not know how to feel, so she ignores the emotions altogether and remains happy, a smile plastered on her face as she thinks about her fan lesson tonight.

She feels the glares of the Uchiha's fan girls, yet today, she finds she doesn't mind. She is still thinking about her fan lesson tonight.

Glancing at the meeting location on the paper, she walks quickly back to their academy building because she hates being late.

No one is there when she arrives, but after less than five minutes, the Uchiha walks in. He does not glare at her, but only gives her a look of disdain, which she can tolerate without jerking back. She smiles at him in her effort to be cordial.

A minute later, Uzumaki-san walks in, though it is more of like a skip or a leap. He is full of energy, and she finds that she likes this. She gives a smile with only a hint of shyness.

"Hey Sakura-chan!" His voice is loud but so very, very happy. His happiness is contagious.

"Hello Uzumaki-san," she says more energetically than usual from her seat by the window.

"Stop it with the -san, will you?" He says. She realizes after a moment that he is very serious, more so than Yamanaka-san.

"Uzumaki?" A tinge of red appears on her cheeks. She has never referred to a boy with no honorific.

"Nah, just Naruto!"

She knows it will probably take years until she can say this without blushing, so instead she says, "Naruto-kun," and smiles.

Uzumaki-san blushes lightly and she wonders whether the way she says his name is embarrassing.

"Ah, Teme!" He points at the Uchiha in an obvious bout of bad manners. Her smiling mouth flattens slightly.

Feeling this is probably the best time she can greet the Uchiha verbally, she manages a rather energetic "hello Sasuke-kun," though she knows she is blushing profusely. She turns her face to the window immediately after speaking to him.

Fifty minutes pass by.

She wonders if their instructor and team leader, Hatake Kakashi-sensei, has forgotten about them.

"Man, where is that lazy old man?" she hears Naruto-kun say for the fifth time.

She hears him shuffle around a lot before realizing that he is up to something.

She looks up.

There is a bucket of water lying on top of the door, and she realizes that the muffled sound coming from the Uchiha is actually laughter.

"You're an idiot dobe," he says, his rough voice the manliest voice she has ever heard from a boy.

Five minutes later, their sensei walks in. She hears the door open, and the bucket fall, but when she looks up, nothing is wet except the floor.

She supposes this is a good thing.

"Hello Naruto, Sasuke, and... Sakura-chan," he says, as if he is not an hour late. She wonders why he pauses before her name.

She smiles at him anyway.

"Sensei, you're late!" Naruto whines, drawing out the last word even further.

Uchiha-san says nothing, but nods at their sensei, a greeting which Hatake-sensei seems to understand and return. She is still looking at the Uchiha when he turns her way, and she manages to keep eye contact while blushing profusely. The heat in her cheeks takes its time to fade, and his glare does nothing to help this.

But nevertheless, she is proud. She has made a step, she realizes.

She wonders whether her happiness caused by the fan is enough to carry this far, but decides that that is a matter to contemplate another day.

"Well then guys, let's go outside and get to know each other," Hatake-sensei says pleasantly, his drawl, while not elongated, emanating an indolent feel.

Obediently, she slides out of her desk and follows him outside the door. A second later, she feels and hears her other two teammates follow. She is literally a hairsbreadth from skipping, but refrains. It is a bad habit, she recalls her father saying.

So instead, her steps are a light flurry, each foot barely receiving the opportunity to kiss the ground before being lifted to meet the wind.

"So guys, say your name, what you like, what you dislike, and what you want to achieve as a shinobi," Hatake-sensei drawls, before sitting on the fence enclosing the area they are in.

Naruto-kun goes first, something she does not find surprising.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, I like ramen, I dislike... can't think of anything right now, and my goal is to be the Hokage!" She finds his sincerity encouraging, though she can't help but think he is a little strange.

Because the Uchiha remains silent, she takes this as her cue to speak.

"My name is Haruno Sakura. I like..." she cannot think of anything appropriate that she can say at the moment.

A wind gust blows by, caressing her cheek, and she suddenly has the energy to speak. "I like people like Sasuke-kun!" she says excitedly, in reference to his dark features. It only takes a split second for her to realize that she blunders over the last part, making it sound like a confession.

A huge cloud of red burgeons over her pale cheeks.

She clasps her hands over her cheeks, hoping that the heat will fade. Naruto-kun appears a little disappointed, something she doesn't quite understand, and Uchiha-kun simply glowers.

Hatake-sensei looks at her, seemingly amused, yet exasperated. She wonders what is especially wrong, because even if her words did come out wrong, most of the girls in her class are still obsessed with the Uchiha.

After her blush fades slightly, she continues. "I dislike..." she pauses again, pursing her lips as she does so, "hot and sunny days."

"I see." She receives another odd look from Hatake-sensei, putting her at unease.

"My greatest goal..." she trails off yet again because she is unsure whether the truth is the best thing to say. After a few moments, she decides it is. "My greatest goal is to bring honor to my father's family as an ANBU." She has no idea why she says the last part, but since her father always talks about being an ANBU, she supposes that it can't hurt.

The Uchiha snorts.

She is not hurt by this though, because it is a far-off goal. After all, she is not filled to the brim with potential like the rest of them.

But she doesn't mind; she likes working out, sweating, learning. They make her happy.

Uchiha-kun is next.

"Uchiha Sasuke. I like.." he skips over this section entirely, "I dislike a lot of things. My greatest goal is kill Uchiha Itachi." He says with a dark expression, and she does not bother trying to meet his eyes, though she thinks it is the polite thing to do.

"I see," is the only thing Hatake-sensei says.

It becomes momentarily quiet before Naruto-kun bursts in with an excited "What are we going to do now?"

"Tomorrow..." Hatake-sensei drawls out lazily, "6 AM, Hinabi Woods entrance." He pauses, noticing the looks on their faces, and adds, "Training. Bring your best." His brusque instructions are cushioned by a slight smile, which, after a moment, she is able discern through his grey mask.

"Yes, Hatake-sensei," she says politely, sensing their meeting is coming to an end.

The last thing he says before poofing away in a smoke cloud is, "Please, Kakashi is fine."

As her pink head looks up toward the sky, worry seeps in.

Her once-bright smile fades into a line.

* * *

><p>AN: I am trying my hardest to keep these chapters somewhat short... (the next part is going to be like 15 pages).

I'll give you a hint.. this story will feature a lot of canon events.

Much love to my readers (which, I hope exist, or else I might have to fix my insanity),

Sandi.

P.S. Review?


	3. The Bell Test

A/N: Finally done with this one. I think I might rewrite some of the genjutsu scenes later, but for now it's at least decent. Despite the fact that it's in third person, _Genius_, I think, is much closer to the heart of Sakura. It's a little less hazy than UB, but at the same time feels more vague because there is less description. Some of the things that she thinks are as close to canon as I could possibly allow for this story.

Point I feel that needs to be made: No, Sakura in this story is not some magically mature teenager than can beat the crap out of everyone. This story follows the canon storyline loosely, so she _does_ develop. She just develops in a different way. So please, don't get too irritated with her.

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><p>Genius <em>by <em>Sandi

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Chapter 2: Emergence

She wakes up to a cool morning, the wind gently brushing her bed-strewn pink hair. Her eyes, slow to open, stare up at the ceiling before closing again.

The morning is finally here, she thinks, with her eyes closed and her arms crossed over her face. Even now, at 5 o' clock in the morning, she cannot decide whether she feels excited or nauseous. She sighs.

It is probably the latter.

She is not permitted to use her fan today, according to her father. She must, he had said, _use the same tools as the other children_. Her brow furrows upon recalling his words. Why did it matter?

As far as she is aware, her highest priority at the moment involving her team is to rectify her sensei's impression of her.

But as always, she heeds her father's word carefully and upon packing her things, leaves behind her fan. She checks her inventory three times before leaving the house, her steps soundless even on the rotting floorboards.

Once she is outside outside though, the morning wind kisses her face, and for the first time in nine hours, she smiles.

She walks slowly and takes the long way, knowing that she will still be early.

The wind is so pretty, she thinks. She pauses, knowing that normally people don't _see_ the wind. But she does. And she loves that she can.

It is not a sappy rainbow as people assume; rather, when cheerful, it exudes a cheery blue-green, and maybe a few shades of yellow thrown by from the sun. Unfortunately, she notes, the wind is not happy today. It is a grungy green-brown, tinged with gray.

The wind is upset. Anxious.

Upon seeing this, she feels the knots curl themselves tighter in her stomach. She takes a deep breath to loosen them, the early morning air a cooling, calming presence on her throat. She knows how to be in control, to assure herself that things will turn out well. Not because of luck, but because of skill. Not because she wants them to, but because they have to.

The thought makes her feel mildly better. It is not her war, she realizes, only her fight.

She reaches the forest entrance at 5:50, a time assured by the watch on her wrist. There is no one there, a fact that doesn't surprise her. She sits down, her legs crossed and her back straight, and meditates. It occurs to her after ten minutes of gazing into nothingness that her father strongly disapproves of meditation. _Meditation is a word for those that want to make doing nothing into doing something_, she recalls him saying. But, she thinks, sometimes sitting and thinking about things ––or not thinking about things–– is better than always _doing_ something.

She prefers watching, not doing.

The sidelines are safer, calmer. She does not like who she becomes in battle anymore. Or what she becomes. It is a hazy feeling, the one that occurs when one is completely in control but at the same time has none. The aftermath of the feeling hits like a brick as well, with perfect recollection but no feeling of doing. She pauses.

It is a scary feeling.

And she is too much of a coward to embrace it. She has never had the courage to tell Father this, and thinks it perhaps unnecessary. She has no need to feel anything for what she does. Her hands twitch in her lap before becoming still. It is perfectly okay, she assures herself, to pretend to feel.

Fifteen minutes pass before she sees Naruto and Sasuke arrive, bickering almost incessantly. Their liveliness makes her feel immediately out of place, so she does not greet them.

Naruto notices her first. "Sakura-chan!"

"Good morning," she says with a smile, getting up from her sitting position.

"Have you been waiting long?" he asks her, his cerulean eyes so sincere that she is momentarily at a loss for words.

"No," she lies, her expression unchanged. Actually, she thinks, it is not quite a lie. She has not been waiting for _them_ at all. Though as soon as this thought occurs to her, she feels ashamed, with no idea why.

Suddenly she feels the need to make conversation, if only just to mend the atmosphere she had destroyed.

She looks at her two potential partners.

One is so exuberant that he makes her feel out of place, while the other hardly speaks (to her) at all. For a moment, she considers dropping the whole prospect of conversation. But it soon occurs to her that as they are her teammates, conversation would be mandatory. So with slight resignation, she opts for the latter only because she cannot stand the unease that occurs when conversing with the former.

"Sasuke-kun," she says, her tone uncertain.

He does not respond, and she finds that she did not expect him to.

"Did you have to wake up early?" She is genuinely curious about this, and it shows. If he normally got up around this time, she thinks, she will need to train earlier. Faster. Harder.

But all she receives in response is a "hn."

She has no idea what this means, and wonders if he expects her to translate it. After a few seconds though, she realizes that perhaps he only intended to drop the conversation. A blush works a way onto her face––she is not supposed to be _this_ socially inept.

She feels Naruto attempt to fill in the gap of conversation, first with random motions that she cannot recognize by pure intuition and then with his voice.

"You know, it's a nice day isn't it?" Naruto asks, and she vaguely feels that this question is addressed to her.

She decides to speak the truth, because the blond in her eyes appears to be invincible. Or at least far stronger than her.

"It isn't." Her tone is flat, flatter than she intended it to be.

When she feels Naruto's energy drop dramatically, she feels guilty, responsible for poisoning his... _goodness_. But, she assures herself, she only spoke the truth. Nothing more and nothing less. Bare.

Upon watching the blond's expression fall though, she has second thoughts about her correctness. Perhaps Father was right, she thinks, perhaps people _needed_ lies.

She certainly did.

She jerks back as if she has hit a mental landmine. Perhaps she did, she realizes, as looks back and forth between both boys. It is at this moment that she decides Naruto is dangerous, dangerous in ways kunai or exploding tags will never be. Silently, she vows never to get close to him.

Thirty minutes later it occurs to her that her teacher is over an hour late.

Remembering all lectures on punctuality from her father, she questions whether she will be okay on this team. Punctuality, she learned, is a sign of seriousness, of dedication.

Then where does lateness fall?

She wonders this as she returns to her sitting position, her back straight and legs crossed. Her hands fall into her lap.

It does not matter, she decides, while gently biting on her lower lip.

She has been trained to wait.

* * *

><p>It takes two more hours for Kakashi-sensei to reach the vicinity.<p>

By this time, she is incredibly anxious. She has given up numbing the feeling in her belly, whatever it happens to be, and instead watches her teammates. Almost immediately, "teammates" becomes "teammate." Sasuke's features are too striking for her to look away, and she finds herself staring.

It occurs to her that perhaps she is being _too_ interested, too attached. But, the more she thinks about it, the less significant her observations become. Thinking makes the world seem so much more gray and so much less magical. After a moment, she supposes that she likes it this way.

She shifts her eyes to the sky, wondering if the wind has changed its mind.

It hasn't.

"Sakura-chan."

Kakashi-sensei's voice brings her back to the present, the here-and-now. Though she does not appreciate being disturbed, she does not show this, letting out what she hopes is an enthusiastic "good morning."

She watches his masked face carefully for any changes in expression. Surprise bleeds onto his face like blood trickling from a shallow cut. It is then that she realizes that there are so many things she does not understand.

She is confused.

Should she be affronted? Pleased? The world of emotions is so confusing, and she has no way to separate them all from one another. To her, they all bleed together, like different types of dye dumped into the same bucket of water. To her, it is easier to smile than to understand.

It is what she has always done.

Kakashi-sensei's voice becomes audible again. "I'm glad to see that all three of you have decided to show up."

Naruto is a ball of energy, ready to say what she cannot. "Sensei, you're late!" Sasuke only glowers.

"Am I?" is Kakashi-sensei's response.

She hopes he is joking when she responds. "You are three hours late, Sensei." Her voice is shriller than she wishes, but she supposes the volume is worth it.

"Well, as I was walking, a black cat––"

"Liar!" Naruto and Sasuke both say. She manages to chime in on the second syllable.

Kakashi-sensei only smiles, and she feels deeply uneasy. "But I'm here now right?" He does not wait for a response before continuing. "So you guys can have a test."

"A test?" Naruto's voice quickly becomes whiny. She wonders if he knows his whine grates on her nerves.

"Yep. A test. The bell test." Kakashi-sensei's lips have lost their smile, but she sees the amusement lurking in his eyes. Unintentionally, she shivers, her thin shoulders shaking back and forth.

"Why?" Naruto asked, his voice back to his normal (loud) volume.

"Well..." Kakashi-sensei drags out this word for a few seconds.

"You guys are my first genin team and were forced on me, so I want to make sure you're worthy."

Sakura is speechless.

Granted, she normally does not have much to say, but his flippant attitude frightens her. This is not going according to plan, she thinks. She dislikes the unexpected–––there is too much left to instinct, and her instincts are not _her_.

She hears herself comment. "Sensei, you never told us about any test to prepare for." She looks straight at Kakashi-sensei, and focuses as much intensity as she can muster in her green eyes. Time after time she has been told that her gaze is unnerving.

His response surprises her further. "I know you're book-smart Sa-ku-ra–––I want to see something else."

She does not appreciate the way he says her name, his tone lilted and teasing. She frowns. She has never been teased by a teacher before.

She has a response ready anyway though, as she is never at a loss for words when in front of an authority. To be ready is to be safe, she thinks. And to be safe is _always_ better.

"What exactly does this test entail?" Despite how her words come out, she makes a large effort to hold back her thoughts, biting on her tongue to prevent any complaints from coming out. The blood tastes bitter, with a metallic tinge. Nothing unusual.

Kakashi-sensei pulls out two gold-coloured bells, attached by a single metal ring around an inch in diameter. She looks at her teammates, relieved that they are as confused as she is. Sasuke wears a look of disdain to mask his confusion, his lip curled into a slight sneer that does not quite hide the bemused look in his dark eyes. Naruto, on the other hand, wears all his thoughts on his face. She knows that she will never be that easy to read.

Thankfully, Sensei clarifies. "Your goal is these two bells. You will have to take them from me." He takes this moment to wink at them. "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you." She cannot tell whether she should be affronted or relieved. But, as she thinks about what he says, she recalls that he is a former ANBU, a current jounin. At her current skill level, it would be impossible to beat him.

She smiles a wide, toothless, lipped smile, ignoring the looks of her teammates.

Perhaps he will not be such a bad sensei after all.

She suddenly hears Sasuke cough. "So what's the point?" he asks gruffly, his glare fixated on Kakashi-sensei now.

Kakashi-sensei smiles. She loses her own.

"The point, dear genin, is to get these." Two bento boxes dangle from his long, nimble-looking fingers. She frowns, the corners of her mouth turned slightly downward.

"Sensei, there are only two boxes." She gives him a pointed look, knowing she is pointing out the obvious.

"That's correct. There are only two boxes. And the test starts _now._"

Before she can further scrutinize his face, he disappears in a puff of smoke. She groans to herself before turning to watch her teammates.

They both carry looks of determination on their faces, and she can tell that they have not come to the same conclusion as she has. Within a few seconds, they both disappear from her vision, running after Kakashi-sensei. She sighs before running after them.

It will be a long morning.

* * *

><p>She has two choices, she realizes as she glances around at her surroundings. The same two. For a few minutes she sits down on a rock and thinks.<p>

There is some relief apparent in her expression when she sees the dark-haired boy come into the vicinity. He is significantly lower on chakra, an obvious sign that he has already met Kakashi-sensei.

"Sasuke-kun." Her words hold conviction, and she puts just enough intensity in her green eyes to let him know that she is very much serious.

He graces her with a look in her direction, though still clutches his kunai.

She knows she only has one chance, and has deliberated over the words for more than five minutes. "We need to work together."

A look of disbelief is her reward. She does not consider this an insult to her abilities, only a flag to his pride, which she concedes is not so wrongfully-placed. He has potential, after all.

She does not plead, something she herself cannot stand. "You need us."

"Hn." His face has not yet shifted into a sneer, but she senses it is very quickly heading into that direction. She continues, outlining some semblance of a strategy.

"You are strong, but you need support. A distraction." Her eyes intensify and meet his gaze.

He appears to do a mental double-take, and she finds that she herself is satisfied. She _can_ affect him, despite what anyone may say. His kunai-wielding hand drops to his side and she allows herself a small smile. With sound confidence, she continues to speak.

"I'll plan it. Naruto and I will distract him while you get the bells. Just wait for my cue before you do anything reckless." Her last word appears to irritate him some, but she feels it needs to be said.

"Why should I listen to you?" His question, though probably ill-founded, has merit she thinks. Her smile does not fade as she responds.

"Who had the highest academic rank in the academy?" Without a response from him, she says, "You may think I'm physically weaker than you, but I have brains. The mind of a strategist if you will." She taps her head here, and she realizes that she is beginning to lose herself to the pull of battle. It is not in her personality to add extra motions to anything she does.

He grunts in what she realizes is agreement.

"Stay here while I get Naruto-kun." The twitching of his muscles betrays his aversion to being ordered around, but he bears it relatively well, maintaining his brooding countenance.

Naruto's chakra is like a burning fire, she thinks, one that releases so much smoke into the air that everyone around it suffocates. She can _always_ tell where he is, and she has yet to figure out whether this is a good thing. For now she supposes it is.

With no hesitation, she darts in the blond's direction, jumping from branch to branch on the murky and contemplative wind. Her long pink hair whips itself backward in the wind of her aftermath, with the exception of a few loose strands.

She clenches her fists and loosens them during the minute-long journey. Her control is starting to slip.

"Naruto-kun."

The blond in question turns around, grinning widely as soon as he recognizes her face. "Yeah?"

"Come with me." He obeys without protest, and she silently thanks Kami that he is not as difficult as Sasuke. Momentarily, she feels bad about barring him, but decides that it is best for the both of them, maintaining the unseen barrier.

His movements are far clunkier than hers, something he notices after they are half way there. She only notes that he is slower–––grace is hardly her forte in teaching. "How do you run like that?" is his question.

She purposely evades it. "Like what?"

As he cannot imitate her strides, he is left at a loss of words. His face scrunches up in thought, and she takes the opportunity to observe him closely for the first time.

His skin is tanned, not the kind from hanging around with friends, but marred with a few burns and bruises here and there. The kind from having no place for shade, no home, she thinks. He has a few whisker-like markings on both his cheeks which she finds significant. They have a deep chakra link to the mass of chakra in his belly. She knows though, that she will never ask how or why a spirit came to be sealed within him, despite the fact that she finds the topic deeply intriguing.

The rest of his body is of little interest to her, except for his eyes. His beautiful, open cerulean eyes. She is terrified of those friendly eyes. She has seen his body, scarred from his scant twelve years of life, so she knows if anyone has the right to be sad and melancholy, it is him. Yet, she notes, he is always open, trusting, and incredibly happy. It is incredibly irritating and off-putting at the same time, she thinks.

He is dangerous.

This is her last thought as her eyes finish raking down his body, looking for any details capable of providing future use.

As she expects, he does not notice her observing him, though she notices a twitch in the chakra of his belly. In response, she glares at the place she knows the spirit to be and turns away.

Yes, he is dangerous.

They arrive at the designated meeting place in five minutes. Her feet barely touch upon the ground before Naruto begins to grovel.

"Why him?" he groans loudly.

She senses another chakra presence, perhaps only fifty feet away. Kakashi-sensei.

She is too wary of their sensei's presence to tell Naruto to shut up, but Sasuke does it for her. "Shut up, Dobe. Do you want to eat lunch or not?"

At the mention of lunch, Naruto's bright face gains even more exuberance. She is torn between rolling her eyes and sighing, despite the fact that she cannot recognize the feeling in her chest. Annoyance perhaps?

Sasuke then turns toward her, his tacit cue for her to begin briefing them.

"Naruto and I will head out toward Sensei first. Sasuke, stay right behind us until you can see him. Then, hide as best you can." She does not bother asking him to mask his chakra because she doubts it will make a difference.

She turns toward Naruto. "How many clones can you make?"

He does not question her knowing his ability to make multiple clones, probably out of a lack of general knowledge of jutsu, she decides. Either way, it is best this way.

Naruto shrugs, the movement of shoulders slightly awkward on his body. "I don't know Sakura-chan."

"Can you do ten?" Ten, she thinks, will be enough without draining too much chakra. He is terrible at conserving it.

"Yeah!" he says enthusiastically, starting to get into the spirit of things.

"So we're set on what we're going to do?" she asks, mostly for her own benefit.

"What are you going to do Sakura-chan?" Sasuke looks toward her as well, a clear sign that both are suffering from curiosity.

She does not shrug, only because she has been taught not to. Instead, she stiffens her already straight back and says the first thing that comes to mind. She slips further.

"Genjutsu probably." Though her statement has some uncertainty in the words, there is none in her tone.

Her silence is their cue to get in formation. They do not question her lead, nor her ability to know where Kakashi-sensei is. Upon this observation, she realizes that they are only children, not quite shinobi. They will not scrutinize her like the others always did.

Her tense shoulders relax slightly.

They get to Kakashi-sensei in a matter of moments and she hisses harshly, perhaps harsher than she intended to, "Naruto, go!" She wonders if he realizes she has dropped the honorific before disregarding the idea altogether. It is more important to retain as much control as possible.

As soon as she sees the clones materialize, she locks her gaze on Kakashi-sensei, who is reading a book that she assumes is not for a child's eyes. _So this is what he meant by giving us a handicap_, she muses as she watches Naruto attempt to gain Kakashi-sensei's attention.

Upon watching the second clone disappear in a puff of smoke, she makes herself appear right in front of Kakashi-sensei, only five feet away. For a few moments they stare each other down, her gaze as intense as she can allow herself to get. Her hands form the few hand signs so fast that there is a slight breeze. Or perhaps there is a small breeze. The surroundings are becoming hazier to her.

Her sight begins to blur as her genjutsu takes place.

It is a basic genjutsu, one that does not require much chakra. The environment becomes that of a strange dreamland, yet she continues to stare Kakashi-sensei down as she transforms herself into a geisha doll, eyes wide. She hopes that she cannot invade his memories or his mind. She does not want to. The only thing on her mind has nothing to do with the bell test, or Kakashi-sensei.

The only thing on her mind is keeping control.

To add to the control aspect, she chooses to play with the element of earth, an element that requires much effort on her part. She does not move physically, only manipulates the threads of chakra she has put into the genjutsu. Creating a genjutsu is like creating a play, she thinks. Props have to materialize, sometimes out of nowhere, and the actors have to be in character.

The geisha smiles. Slowly, under her control, the earth begins to move, sliding to allow several chasms in the ground and raising a few platforms a couple hundred feet off the ground. Her geisha character walks toward him, wraps him in her string, and throws him on a platform, still smiling. A kunai appears.

Suddenly, she feels Kakashi-sensei shudder slightly. She begins to worry, upon sensing a reaction from him. He is supposed to resist her so that Sasuke can grab the bells. He is supposed to be stronger than this.

Subconsciously, she can feel her genjutsu begin to crack. He is breaking free. The fact makes her so relieved, yet she does not let go of her genjutsu. She curses under her breath, in the real world.

She has lost control.

The threads of chakra in her genjutsu become thicker, and the surroundings become more real. She can just feel it, the creation of a whole new world. Vaguely, she feels the excitement of accomplishment. She feels her threads creep like hungry snakes toward Kakashi-sensei, hungry for bad memories and fears to prey on, aiming to intrude upon his mind. Disturbed, she yanks herself back, almost falling on her bottom.

In the real world, she sees the odd looks Sasuke is giving to her.

When she finishes crafting, he is completely absorbed into her dreamworld. Her geisha character is as good as she is with a kunai, if not better because in her mind, she moves as fast as the wind. Another kunai materializes in her other hand. It becomes an odd war now, she thinks, as the geisha flies after him and he attempts to escape by jumping from platform to platform. Down, of course, is death. She smiles uncontrollably.

Suddenly another character, dripping blood on her newly created earth appears in her world. She allows it, and looks outside her genjutsu for a few moments.

In the real world, she can see Sasuke approach Kakashi-sensei hesitantly. Hesitantly? For a split second, she focuses her attention on the real world. Naruto's clones have disappeared, and both boys appear apprehensive about approaching a strangely quiet Kakashi who is moving around quicker than they can follow, mumbling to himself while his book lies closed on the ground.

Vaguely, she feels that she has forgotten something.

A gust of wind blows by.

She realizes then that she is supposed to capture him, not make him run. An earth cage slams down on him as she regains control, taking hold of the millions of chakra threads she has created for the sole purpose of one genjutsu. It is like grabbing the reins of a horse that has run completely out of control with the expectation of actually stopping it, she thinks. For a moment, she feels like she has done the impossible.

Perhaps she has.

Kakashi-sensei is still now, his hands on the bars and his eyes focused on the single character that she let appear, one not of her creation. Her hands move to dispel the genjutsu, though she is barely aware of the signs she is making. In the real world, she turns to Sasuke, motioning for him to get the bells. He obeys her tacit request without a word.

Her hands are shaking now.

They are hardly strong enough to be doing this, she thinks as she gazes upon her small, pale hands.

But they _are_ strong, she assures herself, and she slowly rewinds her chakra strands. To her, breaking her own genjutsu is the equivalent of doing all the hand signs required under the pressure of 400 feet of water. Her hands ache as she goes through hand sign after hand sign, careful not to leave any chakra traces behind.

The process only takes a minute, but it feels like a year.

When she has finished and Sasuke holds the bells up in his hand, there is only an odd expression left on Kakashi-sensei's face. She does not look away when he looks at her, and they exchange glances. She hopes she is wondering the same thing that he is. Why didn't he break the genjutsu faster?

Silently, she extends her senses toward her sensei and realizes that he meant to study her work, presumably before being swept into it. He does not appear to be unsettled, so she knows that she did not intrude too much on his conscious, or even subconscious mind. She heaves a quiet sigh of relief.

Real damage, she thinks, has yet to be done.

The four remain in silence for only a few seconds, due to Naruto's exclamations of victory. She finds herself replying appropriately, responses without any personal thought done her part.

"Good job guys," Kakashi-sensei says after a pause. She feels his one-eyed gaze rest momentarily on her and turns to watch her teammates for a distraction.

The glint in Sasuke's eye is pure tacit appreciation of his own talents, and she feels that the lesson has perhaps been lost on him entirely. She does not bother reinforcing it though; that is not her place.

She turns toward Naruto, the boy with boundless energy. He is slightly beaten from the skirmish and lower on chakra than she has ever been in her life, but she still feels the optimism bleeding from him. Where before she might have been tempted to let a smile creep onto her face, she knows better now, her carefully schooled expression evidence of her aversion.

She herself is not satisfied. She is not proud of anything she did in the confrontation, though her body language shows none of this. Her trained smile is beautifully artificial, one of slight confidence and satisfaction.

Naruto's stomach grumbles, breaking into Kakashi-sensei'sanalyzation of their respective skill levels.

Sensei places one of the two bento boxes in the boy's hands, a tacit request for the boy to eat. Not surprisingly, Sasuke takes the second.

Kakashi-sensei looks at her after the boys have begun to eat. Though she has taken the pains of diminishing her presence, she has the vaguest feeling that her efforts are not needed.

She knows what he is wondering. _What will you do?_ is the question clear in his exposed eye. Unfortunately for him, she thinks, he will never get a rise from her. She is not one to protest or complain, especially to an authority. Hunger, the thing that her teammates still fall prey to, is not an issue for her–––she has been trained to ignore it. The rumble of her belly is soundless, essentially non-existent.

Instead of talking to anyone, she sits down, her back still straight and her legs out in front of her. Making a point of her being relaxed, she leans back on her hands and watches the wind. It has recovered from its anxiety, she realizes. A small smile graces her face, accompanying the warm feeling in her belly.

After what she feels is a long pause, Kakashi-sensei speaks to them.

"Congratulations, team. You have passed the test." On his face is a smirkish sort of smile. Is there such a thing?

The boys barely look up to acknowledge him, and she senses that her teacher has another card to play. "I'm glad you figured out how to split the two lunches amongst the three of you," he says, aiming a pointed glance in her direction.

Silence creeps in while she is not watching. She sees Naruto look down at his food and then look at her before realization dawns on his face. The Uchiha's reaction, she decides, is not worth the time to analyze or scrutinize.

He offers her some of his bento.

She declines. "I am not hungry."

"How can you not be hungry Sakura-chan!" he cries out, as if she has committed a great crime. "I was starving!" he discloses to her, as if it were not entirely obvious. Suddenly something occurs to him, and he asks, almost accusingly, "Did you eat breakfast?"

"Yes," she says. She did not, but he has no need to know this.

She can feel Sasuke look at her for a few seconds before steering his gaze elsewhere.

"You should eat something Sakura-chan," Naruto says seriously. "You're too thin!"

She makes the mistake of looking directly into his eyes. There is an abrupt pause before her reply of "No, I'm not really."

She looks down at her thinly muscled body. She supposes that she may look weak to some, but she is just light enough to ride the wind and strong enough to wield a formidable weapon. Every day of training she does with her father is designed to keep this lithe, muscular build.

"Sakura, please eat something," Naruto whines. She has to make an effort to not let her eyebrows twitch.

She ignores him, pretending to be completely absorbed in the sky. In a way, she supposes she is.

There is a few more minutes of pleading on Naruto's part before she hears a gruff voice say, "Eat."

She finds a half-eaten bento in her hands. To his credit, he is a neat eater, with no crumbs or otherwise disgusting remains.

Surprised, she looks up and meets the gaze of Sasuke. She is surprised because his kind has always scorned her kind. "No," she says, "you should eat it. Food is a waste on me." She sees his forehead scrunch a bit before loosening in a play of nonchalance. If he were to feed her, she thinks, it would be like feeding a monster.

She never rewards herself for losing control.

* * *

><p>That night when her father asks her if the day went well, she lies.<p>

"Yes."

"What jutsus did you use?"

"Only one."

"Which one?"

"The earth one." She disregards the other pieces of the genjutsu.

"How did your teacher like it?" For the first time, she notices that his voice is almost painfully formal, as if he is struggling to keep up the play of politeness.

She hates those questions, the ones that have no particular answer. "I think he liked it."

"Oh?"

"He is the genjutsu type." Despite the fact that she has never thought this before, as soon it comes out of her mouth, she realizes that it is true.

"That is convenient."

"It is?" She asks it partly out of curiosity, but more out of habit. This knowledge is not a necessity.

"You are the genjutsu type Shiro." He says this with an air of confidence not unlike Sasuke's. The similarities worry her.

She mulls this bit of information over for a bit.

Her father notices her thinking and does not bother her until the end of the meal, a gesture she is grateful for.

"Don't forget your duty Shiro," he reminds her. It is the ultimate blanket statement, she thinks. He is telling her to be courteous to everyone and everything, take all missions with absolute seriousness, train as concisely as possible... She pauses. The list is far too long, it suddenly occurs to her. She wonders how it ever ended up in her head in the first place.

To her father she says, "I won't."

Though the more and more she thinks over the words, they sound like "I can't."

* * *

><p>AN: Well? Please leave a review!

P.S. I'm really excited about this story because it's more about how character interaction leads to character development. To give you a glimpse of how things will turn out... Sakura, of course, is the main character, and the two second most important characters are Sasuke and Kakashi. Third tier would be her father and Naruto. I didn't really want to develop Naruto because he's developed so much in canon (well, if you can call sudden maturity "development").


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